I checked the forum for new or returning players, and that helped somewhat.

I logged on and my Templar was level 57! I was thinking she was 10 levels lower. I've checked my quest log and i'm wondering if I should just leave where I left off or if anyone has any tips. The problem is I really don't remember doing them, lol - and I'm curious about a few things also..

I noticed when going to the Broker in Q Harbor.. No one was there, lol. I remember when I used to play there was at least several people at one given time.. Do people not use it as much or something? Or is it just that the new "it" place is guild hall?

Also is level 1-9 channel basically like the general chat?

Any tips or information on just how to start out again and what's changed or "what's up" and such would help. Thanks!

Depending how long you've been gone, they've adjusted the XP curve once or twice over the past couple of years. That could account for your extra levels. :)

A lot of people use guild halls instead of cities now. They are planning to revamp both Freeport and Qeynos (Freeport this year, Qeynos next year), but for the most part you're more likely to see more people flocking around brokers in newer zones. The broker system is still very much in use though!

1-9 on several servers is treated like a general chat, but I've also see a lot of newbie questions asked and answered over it. :)

A lot has changed and even more will be changing with Game Update 61 later this month. The new max is level 90, expansions will be focusing more on features while content will be free (for now), max AAs is 300 I think (still have never quite hit that cap!), New Halas is the newest good-aligned city (that's in Frostfang Sea), the travel system was changed to interconnect so getting from point A to point B is much quicker.

There's a lot more beyond that, my best suggestion is to just dive in, maybe do some quests below your level to re-familiarize yourself with your character then a good place to head to for your level is Tenebrous Tangle. There's a nice quest series they added last year there that will lead you through all 3 Kingdom of Sky zones and you get a very nice set of armor out of it. :)

If you have any other questions feel free to ask and welcome back! :)

edit: If you want to look through patch notes for all the game updates that have occurred start at our GU60 page and go backwards from there. :)

There's a lot more beyond that, my best suggestion is to just dive in, maybe do some quests below your level to re-familiarize yourself with your character then a good place to head to for your level is Tenebrous Tangle. There's a nice quest series they added last year there that will lead you through all 3 Kingdom of Sky zones and you get a very nice set of armor out of it. :)

This is a late response; but i'm hoping maybe someone will read this and can just quickly give me an answer:

What is researching? Lol. I know it upgrades your spells, but how do you go about doing so?

Open your Knowledge book (K button) and there's a research tab on the far right. Pick the spell you want to upgrade and when it's done, a little box pops up to let you know. Lower level spells can be done in a few hours, while maxed level master spells can take a month.